Auto sales continue in top gear in December
New Delhi, January 1
Despite lack of discounts, promotions and customers looking at purchasing New Year vehicles, auto sales zoomed in December and are expected to be 30 per cent more than the previous month.
Strong demand on the back of new car launches and easy finance pushed retail sales during the month.
Sales figures of most companies were higher than previous month sales, as well as December 2009 sales.

Tata Motors launches ad blitz for Nano
New Delhi , January 1
Tata Motors has turned to advertising to sell Nano, the cheapest car in the world.
In December, Nano sold 5,784 units, a substantial hike over November, yet the company has been forced to look at options to market the car due to previous low sales.
The company has released television advertisement campaigns to market the Nano. Officials say that the release of television campaign is part of an aggressive marketing strategy.
Besides, the television campaign, Tata Motors has added more sales points in smaller towns.

Investor Guidance
Tax depends on contribution to a/c
Q: I have taken a monthly income scheme of Post Office in the name of my wife and myself. I would like to know whether interest received on this is taxable in the name of my wife and myself.

New Delhi, January 1
Despite lack of discounts, promotions and customers looking at purchasing New Year vehicles, auto sales zoomed in December and are expected to be 30 per cent more than the previous month.

Strong demand on the back of new car launches and easy finance pushed retail sales during the month.

Sales figures of most companies were higher than previous month sales, as well as December 2009 sales.

Mahindra & Mahindra reported 41.92 per cent jump in sales to 34,062 units in December 2010.

Total sales of M&M utility vehicles, including Scorpio, Xylo, Bolero and Pick-Ups, was up 23.53 per cent to 14,705 units from 11,904 units in December 2009.

Driven by its successful compact car Figo, US auto maker Ford India has reported 184 per cent growth in sales in 2010. In December 2010, the company's sales grew 172 per cent over December 2009.

The company sold 83,887 units during the period January-December 2010 against 29,488 units last year. The company said since the launch of Figo in March 2010, the company had sold more than 60,000 units in India.

TVS Motor Company has reported 42 per cent growth in sales at 1,71,790 units last month against 1,20,913 units in December 2009.

In the two-wheeler segment, the sales jumped by 41 per cent to 1,68,359.

Scooter sales grew 94 per cent growth to 41,804 units (21,566). Total sales between April and December, 2010 stood at 15,12,896 units.

Two-wheeler manufacturer Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) has reported 20 per cent growth in sales at 1,40,642 units in December 2010 over the same month previous year.

Exports amounted for 10,558 units in December 2010, it added.

Market reports suggest that most automobile makers are expecting much higher sales than last year as demand has been outstripping supply for most of 2010, leading to higher retail sales in December as well.

New Delhi , January 1
Tata Motors has turned to advertising to sell Nano, the cheapest car in the world.

In December, Nano sold 5,784 units, a substantial hike over November, yet the company has been forced to look at options to market the car due to previous low sales.

The company has released television advertisement campaigns to market the Nano.

Officials say that the release of television campaign is part of an aggressive marketing strategy.

Besides, the television campaign, Tata Motors has added more sales points in smaller towns and introduced a 99 rupee-a-month maintenance option, lengthened warranties to four years or 60,000 km, which ever is earlier and started to offer finance to prospective buyers from one of its sister companies.

In November, the company offered to retrofit Nano cars with additional protection in exhaust and electrical systems after the fires. Investigations concluded that the reasons for the fires were ‘specific’ to the cars involved, the company has said.

The company today said that its total vehicle sales, including trucks and buses, rose around 31 percent in December to 67,441 units from 51,627 units sold in the same month in 2009.

Total passenger vehicles sales in the domestic market in December 2010 stood at 19,706 units, which is a jump of 34.48 per cent from the same month previous year, the company said in a statement.

'Indica' reported sales of 5,923 units, which is 40 per cent up from the units sold in December 2009, Tata Motors said.

In the domestic commercial vehicles segment, the company sales increased by 25.08 per cent, as it sold 41,926 units last month compared with 33,519 units sold in December during 2009.

The company exports grew by 69.18 per cent to 5,809 units sold last month compared to 3,454 units sold in December 2009.

The company has increased the prices of its passenger cars in the range of Rs 3,000- 15,000 and of utility vehicles between Rs 8,000 and 14,500.

Prices of commercial vehicles have been increased from Rs 1,500-30,000.

Atrocious behaviour and reckless attitude of officials multiplied the trouble for harassed passengers, as dense fog descended on the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA)

A passenger, wife of an editor, had an accident and came up with a fracture on her foot.

No official offered her proper assistance. There were instances of near brawls between stranded passengers and rude officials.

The arrival lounge of the spacious Terminal-III was choked with passengers and their baggage in the open. The area turned into a dumping ground for piles of mishandled baggage. An elderly couple lost valuables and there were complaints of pick-pocketing. The staff was clearly inadequate, while complainants for the mishandled baggage.

Two ladies missed their trip to Bangkok for the New Year, after more than 30 hours at the airport. Officials were unable to provide them any assurance.

Fog and inclement weather hits every airport . Diversions, delays and cancellation of flights are understandable. "Why should officials of the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) and airlines, domestic and international, be down-right crude, unhelpful and un-cooperative?".

Passengers complained about loss of baggage. "I cannot now leave this chaotic city, until I get my suit-cases,” said an angry international passenger, adding: "My pleasure trip to your country has turned into massive inconvenience".

The consensus at the IGIA was "Why raise world-class infrastructure if you do not professional officials to man the Terminal-III? A foreign lady-passenger, who had waited for hours to retrieve her baggage, said: "The government should depute these officials of the DIAL and Air India to undergo basic training for 'good manners and etiquette".

Most of the troubles during this uncertain foggy season were ‘official-made’ and the staff was not prepared to face the agitated passengers. Agencies were also not fully geared up for operating flights in low visibility.

IMD said the department had been briefing the airlines, DIAL and tower runway of information on visual range and authorities should stay in touch with the passengers instead of keeping them in dark'. “Why does DIAL charge us 'service (development) fee when it cannot provide us any facility at the airport?” asked a passenger. A foreigner, said: “Your aviation sector is facing 'terminal illness”.

Civil Aviation Praful Patel had recently blamed the inclement weather for delays and disruptions. He is right. However, unprofessional, incompetent and laid-back officials were also to blame.

Q: I have taken a monthly income scheme of Post Office in the name of my wife and myself. I would like to know whether interest received on this is taxable in the name of my wife and myself.

— Gurdev Singh

A: What matters for taxation purpose is the contribution made to the account by each of the account holders, irrespective of the order of the names in which the account is held. If you have contributed say, 60% and your wife has contributed 40%, then the interest will be chargeable to tax in the hands of both of you in the same proportion. On the other hand, if the name of either of you has been added for convenience and the full amount has been contributed by the other person then the entire interest will be taxed in the hands of the other person.

CGAS scheme

Q: I opened a capital gain account in a nationalised bank last fiscal for saving of capital gains tax from sale of HUDA Plot. I eventually (within two years) intend to buy a residential flat from this amount to save on tax. In the meanwhile, can I withdraw the interest amount that the deposit earns?

— Hem Raj

A: We have been pointing out this lacuna in this CGAS scheme for the last seven years. Here is an extract from the latest edition of our book - “It is perfectly justifiable to impose restrictions on the withdrawals of the original corpus for any purpose other than the stipulated one (to buy residential property). However, the authors of the CGAS rules appear to have erred in neglecting to allow withdrawal of interest earned thereon. This causes hardships to the assessee. The interest is not available for expenses but it is fully taxable.”

Thank you very much for giving us an opportunity to once again point out this lacuna.

Rental income tax

Q: My son has a residential property in India which he wants to rent out to a corporate and expected monthly rental will be Rs 40,000. Please tell us the legal implications and also income tax/payable & TDS on such rental income by the rent paying corporate and other rebates/deductions claimable from income tax department over this property.

— L R Arora

A: The rental income of your son will be taxable in the normal course in India. Your son can claim a standard deduction of 30% of the rent. Apart from that, if the property rented has been purchased using mortgage finance, the interest payable for the year is also deductible. On the withholding tax front, the tenant is expected to apply TDS @30.9%. The TDS will be reduced from the final tax payable to determine the net tax liability. Also, your son will have to file a tax return.

Canada, India tax

Q: We are Canadian citizens and retired. We are going back to India for good.All our pensions from our Canadian employment will be deposited in an Indian bank (after withholding tax). How will our pension will be treated in India even though we have a tax treaty.

— Pal

A: Article 18 of the Double Tax Avoidance Agreement between India and Canada, dealing with pensions clearly lays out that pensions arising in a contracting state shall be taxable only in that state provided that the payer is that state itself, a political sub-division, a local authority or a resident of that state. In other words, if your employer is a resident of Canada, the pension will only be taxable in Canada and not in India.

CPI for industrial workers
NEW DELHI: The All India Consumer Price Index Number for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) on base 2001=100 for the month of November, 2010 increased by 1 point and stood at 182 (one hundred and eighty two). The All-India (General) point-to-point rate of inflation for the month of November, 2010 is 8.33% as compared to 9.70% in October, 2010.
— TNS